Breaking Down Barcelona's Pre-Season Friendly Opponents
Barcelona head into the 2015/16 pre-season in good shape.
Although a few of the South American players who took part in the Copa America will be missing for the first game or two of the International Champions Cup, there is ample time for them to get match fit before the big kick-off.
There are some stellar fixtures to be played, and by the end of this set of games, Barca could stand just one trophy away from another sextuple.
Let's take a look at their opponents over the next few weeks...
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L.A. Galaxy
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Barca's first game of pre-season comes against Los Angeles Galaxy in the International Champions Cup.
The Americans should give Luis Enrique's side a decent test, given that this pre-season fixture will be their 12th game of the season and sandwiched between two MLS matches.
In decent form, they've lost just once at home during this campaign and totalled 14 goals in three of their last four.
Steven Gerrard made his long-awaited debut at the weekend against San Jose Earthquakes and will be expecting to line up against the European champions, playing against former Liverpool team-mate Luis Suarez.
Robbie Keane is likely to captain the side, as usual, and he and ex-West Ham midfielder Sebastian Lletget will be the ones to watch alongside Gerrard.
Bruce Arena's side like to get forward at every opportunity and have only failed to score twice during this MLS season.
The manager will likely keep to his preferred 4-4-2 template with Gerard playing slightly deeper than midfield partner Juninho. Stefan Ishizaki played his last game for the Galaxy against Toronto, and the "best passer on the team" per MLS Soccer is moving back home to Sweden.
It gives Arena a small headache in the wide right area, but nothing that won't be addressed before they do battle with the Blaugrana.
Lletget can continue his fine season with a convincing display, supplying the bullets for Keane and Jose Villarreal to fire, or again getting on the scoresheet himself.
Jaime Penedo should keep goal unless Arena prefers to see a little more of back-up keeper Brian Rowe in this friendly, a move that would certainly make sense for both parties.
Although the Galaxy haven't had a settled defence in their last four games, we should start to see some continuity.
Robbie Rogers deserves his place on the left side and will be pleased that Lionel Messi won't be back for this one. Although right-back Dan Gargan is getting on in years, dependable and reliable are his watchwords so expect him to at least start the game.
Completing the side are in-form central defensive partnership Omar Gonzalez and A. J. DeLaGarza.
Manchester United
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Louis van Gaal's Manchester United side will have a different look by the time the two sides meet.
New signing Memphis Depay is sure to feature and may well be joined by Matteo Darmian, Morgan Schneiderlin and German World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger after their signings were announced by the club.
Per an interview with ManUtd.com, the Dutchman has already noted the strategy he will use in the competition:
"In the first two matches I will play all the players at the most for 45 minutes because we have to adapt to that new situation. A lot of youngsters will also have the possibility to step into the matches.
The Barcelona and PSG games are the third and fourth matches and at that point we will play with certain players for 60 minutes and 30 minutes. It will also be good to see where we stand then against the level of those kinds of teams.
"
With David De Gea's future still uncertain, we could see a start for Victor Valdes against his old club.
Marcos Rojo won't feature after his Copa America exertions with Argentina, so expect to see Phil Jones partner Chris Smalling in the centre of defence with Rafael and Luke Shaw completing the back line.
Robin van Persie's departure to Fenerbahce—reported by Goal.com—will see an early chance for Depay and Wayne Rooney to develop an understanding.
Expect Marouane Fellaini to play the first hour with Schweinsteiger getting a run out later in the game. Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Daley Blind should complete a strong United line up in a game that Van Gaal will be keen to win.
Chelsea
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Jose Mourinho always relishes the chance to play against Barcelona, and the fact that this is a pre-season game will make no difference.
It's almost certain that the Chelsea manager will play as near to full strength as possible, which will also give Cesc Fabregas a chance to reacquaint himself with his former colleagues.
There may even be a sprinkling of new signings after the Portuguese began to clear the decks in the squad, sending Marco van Ginkel, Andreas Christensen and Isaiah Brown out on loan, per Sky Sports.
John Terry will relish the prospect of playing against the treble-winners, and Gary Cahill will provide a formidable wall that Barca's attacking trio will find hard to break down.
Even if the defence is breached, Thibaut Courtois, a player Barca know well from his time at Atletico Madrid, stands quite literally in their way.
Branislav Ivanovic will neither ask for nor give quarter on the right-hand side, while Cesar Azpilicueta provides wonderful support from the left.
With Juan Cuadrado reportedly interesting other clubs, per Tuttosport (h/t Uche Amako of the Daily Express), and Jon Obi Mikel a target of Fenerbahce per Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard, the midfield could look quite a bit different than from a few months ago.
Eden Hazard, Willian and Nemanja Matic are sure starters if available, and if Mourinho decides to resurrect the Radamel Falcao-Diego Costa partnership, then we'll see Fabregas sitting behind the front two in an attacking but solid 4-3-1-2 formation.
Fiorentina
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After three games in North America, Barca decant back to Europe for their final game of the tournament.
Fiorentina will be the first of two Italian sides that the Catalans face this pre-season and all of the players who took part in the Copa America should be back for this one, if not before.
After missing a season with injury, Giuseppe Rossi hopes to resurrect his career. Still only 28 years of age, if Rossi can find some form, new manager Paulo Sosa will find it hard to leave the front man on the sidelines.
The worry for Sosa is that despite a fourth-place finish in Serie A last term, his inherited squad is one of the oldest in the league.
Borja Valero, Jose Basanta, Alberto Aquilani and Juan Manuel Vargas are just four of a number of players who are 30 or over.
Depending how well his side have competed in the games prior to the clash with the treble-winners, we could see an experimental XI from Sosa.
Roma
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Just a few days after the Fiorentina match, AS Roma will pitch up at Camp Nou for the 50th edition of the Gamper Trophy, Barcelona's traditional curtain-raiser.
It gives yet another ex-Barca player a chance to renew acquaintances, Seydou Keita returning to a ground where he spent the most successful years of his career.
The effervescent Francesco Totti will lead out a team of players that Luis Enrique knows well from his time as manager of the club.
It is that knowledge that could hold the key to success in this match for Lucho.
His opposite number, Rudi Garcia, has innumerable talent to call upon, including the old warhorse Daniele Di Rossi.
Kevin Strootman, Ashley Cole and the technically gifted Miralem Pjanic will all be looking to showcase their obvious talent before a packed Camp Nou.
It would be a surprise to see ex-Arsenal man Gervinho in the side as he looks to move away from the club. A potential deal with Al-Jazira fell though because of his demands for a helicopter and a private beach, per Gazzetta Dello Sport (h/t Callum Davis of the Daily Telegraph).
Clearly, for a team that finished second only to Juventus in Serie A last season, this friendly fixture represents an opportunity to kick off their 2015/16 campaign in style.
Expect the Italians to be defensively competent, to attack with flair and pace and to be more than a match for their Blaugrana counterparts.
Sevilla
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Sevilla manager Unai Emery will be hoping that the loss of Carlos Bacca to AC Milan hasn't harmed his side's chances of success too much.
As has become the routine over the last few seasons, the Andalusians continue to sell their best players in order to retain a healthy budget and business practice.
Reuters, via the Guardian, note that Ciro Immobile has signed on loan from Borussia Dortmund for the season, but 10 goals in 32 games for the Germans is hardly the greatest hit rate for a main striker.
This European Supercup final takes place in Tblisi, thousands of miles away from Spain, and not a journey that either side is likely to relish.
To that end, we could see both teams looking a little leggy in this one, even though Barca will have had a week's rest since the Gamper.
Yevhen Konoplyanka has joined from Dnipro, thwarted by Sevilla in last season's Europa League final, and he will be keen to impress his new paymasters.
Denis Suarez remains a Sevilla player on loan from Barcelona, and it'll be interesting to see if the Catalans have a problem with their employee playing against them. His sparkling form last season could see him pose a threat to Barca's dreams of another sextuple.
The rest of the team virtually picks itself.
Grzegorz Krychowiak, Vicente Iborra and Ever Banega will all be doing their utmost to start their campaign off with some silverware, and Luis Enrique will know that his charges will need to be at their very best to take the trophy back to Camp Nou.
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